City of Concord

The City Parking Committee conducted a neighborhood forum to discuss narrow street concerns and parking management strategies in the UNH Law and White Park areas. The forum reviewed criteria for street segments, evaluated street-specific parking recommendations, and explored potential uses and management of the White Park parking lot. Additionally, the committee reviewed parking data and enrollment information for the UNH School of Law.

This strategic plan aims to optimize the Downtown Concord parking system by addressing perceived parking shortages and enhancing efficiency. It focuses on several key areas: implementing demand-based pricing and eliminating time limits for metered parking, formalizing a flexible off-street permit program, reconfiguring public garages for user-friendliness, expanding resident parking permits, improving event/valet parking solutions, upgrading signage and technology, establishing shared parking initiatives, and reforming enforcement and governance. The overall vision is to create a more accessible, convenient, and financially sustainable parking environment to support downtown economic development.

This document outlines the Parking Committee's final recommendations for a strategic parking plan, aiming to ensure fiscal responsibility, promote economic development, improve customer service, and maintain safe, clean, and well-maintained parking facilities. The plan focuses on rebalancing the General Fund and Parking Fund relationship, enhancing technology, adjusting enforcement days/hours, revising meter time limits and rates, expanding meter geography, converting garage leases to permits, optimizing parking ticket policies, implementing capital improvements, increasing neighborhood enforcement, refining resident parking permits, and enforcing handicap parking time limits.

The committee reviewed the management of public parking on narrow streets within the City Hall Neighborhood. Key discussion topics included the criteria for on-street parking based on roadway width and traffic volume, and specific recommendations for various streets such as Blake Street, Hanover Street, Huntington Street, and others, involving proposed parking removals, winter parking bans, and one-way traffic conversions. The presentation outlined the benefits of these changes, such as improved emergency access and winter maintenance, while also addressing concerns regarding the shift of parking and traffic impacts. The next steps involve finalizing the recommendations for submission to the City Council for a public hearing.

The City of Concord's Parking Strategic Plan outlines a comprehensive strategy to revitalize the city's parking system, with core objectives including achieving financial solvency for the Parking Fund, stimulating downtown economic development, enhancing customer service, and ensuring safe, clean, and well-maintained parking facilities. Key recommendations encompass rebalancing inter-fund relationships, implementing new technologies like dedicated websites and pay-by-cell apps, adjusting enforcement hours and meter rates, expanding meter coverage, converting garage leases to a permit system, and updating capital improvement and maintenance programs for parking infrastructure.